Artists’ Film International: Einat Amir, Ana Gallardo, Marinella Senatore, Nasan Tur and Katarina Zdjelar

5 July–13 October 2013, Whitechapel Gallery, Zilkha Auditorium

This summer the Whitechapel Gallery presents five new artists’ films as part of Artists’ Film International, a touring programme of film, video and animation selected by 15 organisations from around the world.

Coinciding with The Spirit of Utopia, an exhibition which looks at the role art can play in offering alternative ways of configuring society, this season’s films are based on social and collaborative projects.

In German artist Nasan Tur‘s video Berlin says… (2009) the artist spray paints graffiti slogans taken from the streets of the city on to a blank wall. From political and activist slogans to romantic declarations and humorous comments, the words are sprayed on top of one another to create an undistinguishable block of colour in which language is obliterated. The Attic (2012) is the second of Italian artist Marinella Senatore’s trilogy of filmed operas and brings together a cast and crew of over 16,000 people in Derby, England. The volunteers worked with Senatore to develop all aspects of the production, creating an archive shaped by the local community.

Serbian artist Katarina Zdjelar’s work My Lifetime (Malaika) (2012) features Ghana’s National Symphony Orchestra and was recorded in the capital city Accra. In the film the orchestra play an empowering postcolonial composition in a performance which explores tradition, local values and colonial independence. Israeli artist Einat Amir presents her latest collaborative project  I Will Be Your Guide for This Session (2013), in which volunteers explore the mechanics of group therapy through workshops, while Argentinian artist Ana Gallardo’s film Don Raúl (2012) features a 93-year-old professional dancer performing in a public square, challenging  the representation and perception of old age in society.

Einat Amir is selected by the New Media Centre, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, Israel; Ana Gallardo by Fundación PROA, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Marinella Senatore by GAMeC, Bergamo, Italy; Nasan Tur by Video-Forum, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany; Katarina Zdjelar by Belgrade Cultural Centre, Belgrade, Serbia.

Watch the trailer for this season of Artists’ Film International here

Notes for editors
– The 15 Artists’ Film International organisations are: Ballroom Marfa, US; Belgrade Cultural Centre, Serbia; Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan, Afghanistan; Cinemathèque de Tanger, Morocco; City Gallery Wellington, New Zealand; Fundacion PRÒA, Argentina; Galleria D’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Italy; Hanoi DOCLAB, Vietnam; Istanbul Modern, Turkey; KINOKINO Centre for Art and Film, Norway; n.b.k. Video-Forum, Germany; New Media Centre, Israel; Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong; Project 88, India and  Whitechapel Gallery, England.

Visitor Information
Opening times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am – 6pm, Thursdays, 11am – 9pm.
Admission free. Whitechapel Gallery, 77 – 82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX. Nearest London Underground Station: Aldgate East, Liverpool Street, Tower Gateway DLR. T + 44 (0) 20 7522 7888 info@whitechapelgallery.org